Viet Nam the fourth: Day 11 Hoi An
My last full day in Hoi An, and also L’s birthday. After breakfast we went to pick up our laundry, things sure are fierce along laundry street. once we’d got our clothes we walked the length of the street, and no less than two other locals, looking at our bag (and assuming it contained dirty clothes) gestured for us to come to them for laundry. Once they realised we were carrying a bag of clean clothes they went back into the shadows, watching, planning, scheming. If not today or tomorrow, some day soon laundry wars are coming to Hoi An.
We checked out a different massage place this morning, one with many solid online reviews, and like everywhere offering “happy hour discount” where the happy hour lasts pretty much all day. Seated inside, on one of the chairs was an infant, maybe 1-2 years old, probably the only Vietnamese person I’ve met that speaks less/worse Vietnamese than me. The massage was good again, at this rate I could get used to having 180 degree neck rotation.
Post massage we wandered through the ancient town to do a clothes fitting for the cargo shorts I’ve ordered. Plenty of pockets and with a decent length below the knee so I can wear them into buddhist temples on future trips to the area. The also fit my waist well, as I’m kind of in between sizes at the moment. They look good, don’t fight back when I try to sit down, and with any luck are now finished and sitting at the hotel reception waiting for me.
We decided to splurge on somewhere a bit more upmarket for lunch, as we usually do on holidays. As much as we love being hunched over small tables, sitting on tiny stools, and eating the most fabulous foods that cost less than $5 each, sometimes it’s good to sit in big chairs and see what the $10-15 version of the $5 meal is like. I went for the crispy pork on fried rice, while L had roasted eggplant, and a serve of dumplings. Even though we’ve made the eggplant dish at least twice on various cooking classes here, it doesn’t seem to be a common thing for street food vendors or cheap restaurants. Done right it’s exquisite, caramelised eggplant slices in a slightly salty sauce, and L’s today were very good. The crispy pork was good, the fires rice less so, being a bit dry and wasn’t really even slightly elevated from the dish found everywhere. THe dumplings were also really good, so L had a win indeed.
We popped back to the hotel, and some hotel staff came to our room with a small birthday sponge cake for L, and wished her happy birthday. A lovely touch. Then we headed out for more fittings, and made it to the Market Bar in time for happy hour, where I had a couple of very interesting cocktails. The bar has a gin focus, so most of the happy hour cocktails feature gin, which I’m not the hugest fan of. There’s one with rum, which I had last night, and another with tequila, which I’m less of a fan of than gin. So gin it was. First cocktail was chilli-themed, with a chilli salt powdered shrimp rim (the shrimp just gave a hint of umami) with a lime and gin mix, and the gin wasn’t overpowering. Second cocktail was a gimlet, with Vietnamese basil and mint that also was well balanced.
Banh mi, aside from the okay overpriced one in Da Nang, I’ve not had the Vietnamese super sandwich, so after a couple of cocktails we figured it was time. Hoi An has two famous places, and this time for us Banh Mi Phuong is the closer of the two. I went for the classic mixed meat, and again wasn’t disappointed: crispy crunchy bread, a decent amount of tasty fillings, a good balance of meat, pate, and salad (and definitely no tomato), and I doubt there’s a better $2.30 sandwich to be had anywhere. It was so good I had to get another to take with me for the walk back to the hotel.
I’ve likely mentioned the resourcefulness of the Vietnamese, and it was on display again today. During our wanderings, it started a light drizzle. Being an occasional smart arse, I told L that it wasn’t likely to be much rain, otherwise we’d be seeing vendors on every corner selling umbrellas. Two corners later, yes, yes they were selling umbrellas. Fortunately the drizzle did move on fairly quickly.
Tomorrow night I start heading back home, first with a flight to HCMC, then an early Tuesday flight back to where the adventures begin.